CARROLLTON, Texas—Many integrators talk about taking a consultative approach with their customers, but super-regional Securadyne Systems has gone one step further by offering professional consulting services in-house.

WESTMINSTER, Colo.—Invest big in IT smarts and do it now. That is what executives from some leading systems integration firms—Securadyne, Advance Technology and Safeguard Security—say they’re working on at their own companies today.

That’s a possibility, according to Bill Bozeman, CEO of PSA Security. Bozeman has experience building a systems integration firm and knows both of the players in the Securadyne/Intelligent Access Systems deal that was announced yesterday.

In case you missed it, Securadyne, a start-up integrator founded by Carey Boethel and Pamlico Capital in early 2012, yesterday announced that it has acquired Ron Oetjen’s company, Intelligent Access Systems, one of the most successful and fastest growing regional integrators in the country. Here’s the a link to the story.

I talked to Bozeman today about the deal. He offered his opinion of the union and also discussed the stages of growth for integration companies—and the new challenges that come along with those different stages.

“I know both guys [Carey and Ron] well very well. They’re both PSA Security equity partners and owners. The consolidation, from our perspective, appears to be a good solid one. Carey is building a hell of a company with Securadyne; it looks to be the next Convergint, [and] congratulations to him [for that],” Bozeman said. Convergint is not a member of the PSA Security flock, but Bozeman praised [Convergint Technologies' CEO Dan Moceri] for building a very solid company.

Bozeman identified three growth-stage milestones for integration companies and the specific challenges that arise when companies grow past a certain stage. Those milestones occur when a company reaches: A.) $3 to $5 million in revenue; B.) $10 - $15 million in revenue, and C.) $50 million in revenue.

To get to $3 to $5 million in revenues you need to be a strong, entrepreneurial company, but to become a larger company, “You can no longer do everything yourself. You have to have a management team to help you with sales, technical and finance decisions,” he said. “This is a stage that a lot of companies can’t or don’t want to get past,” he said. The reason? They may be happy making a nice living and being the entrepreneur in charge, Bozeman said.

The next stage of growth hits when a company is doing $10 to $15 million in revenue. “They normally have more than one office and they need infrastructure. To get to the next level you need to hire well paid management people, and that can put a strain on profits of a company unless they’re well financed, which is unusual for most integration companies, or if they have a solid RMR model,” Bozeman explained. He also noted that Ron Oetjen had already successfully moved IAS past this stage.

The third stage of growth is at around $50 million. “That’s when you really start to need a CEO and a senior management team made up of VPs that are experienced and are well paid,” Bozeman said.

“Carey has already been president of Netversant and Siemens. He’s the ideal guy [to shepherd this company along] because he already knows what it’s like to run a company that’s $70 to $100 million or $200 million and beyond [in revenues],” Bozeman said.

“Carey’s a polished, senior level business guy who’s experienced on the large corporate side as well as on the entrepreneurial side. … And with Ron he’s got a super field general [who brings with him] a strong middle-management team. Put that with Carey’s existing team and you have a nice equation for further success.”

CARROLLTON, Texas—Securadyne Systems took a giant step toward becoming a national integrator with the acquisition, announced today, of Intelligent Access Systems (IAS), one of the most successful and rapidly growing regional integrators in the country.

DALLAS—Securadyne Systems, a new systems integration company launched in February by industry veterans Ken Francis and Carey Boethel, now has a platform for growth in the Northeast with the acquisition of Surveillance Specialties (SURV).

DALLAS—Carey Boethel and Ken Francis, two well-known industry veterans, announced this morning that they’ve founded a new systems integration firm called Securadyne Systems, and acquired SecureNet, a Dallas-based security integr